Our recent Workplace Wellbeing Survey – Powered by EMA and nib health insurance, provided some interesting insights into human capacity:
- Only 25 per cent of workplaces are effectively embracing new ways of working
- Only 26 per cent of businesses are effectively promoting internal talent
The world of work is changing at pace – with a rise in digital roles and a fall of manual and procedural jobs. In an economy that desperately and continuously needs more and more new skills refreshed more often, what becomes most important are not the skills themselves, but the enduring human capabilities that underpin the ability to learn, apply and effectively adapt to maximise the capacity businesses need to succeed.
The most widely used concept of ‘capacity’ in a business context is the maximum output level a company can sustain to provide its products or services.
Understanding human capacity is more complex. Human capacity includes abilities, skills, and experiences related to a person’s ability to do something. Human capacity drives performance and can be influenced.
If there is one quality that executives seek for themselves and their employees, it is sustained high performance in the face of ever-increasing pressure and rapid change. Peak performance in business has often been presented as sheer brainpower, but it is helpful to view performance as a pyramid made of different capacity types. Physical wellbeing is at its foundation. As illustrated in the figure below, emotional health sits above that, then mental acuity, followed by a sense of purpose at the top. The IPS – peak performance under pressure and maximum capacity – are achieved when all four dimensions are working together in harmony.
To achieve this harmony, new ways of working must be embraced in addition to internal talent promotion. At the EMA, we can evaluate your ways of working, and design internal mobility programmes to help you reach peak performance.
Reach out to a People Experience Growth Advisor, via our AdviceLine team, or email peopleexperience@ema.co.nz to learn more today.
By: Vicky O’Neill
Head of People Experience – EMA